Yellow Tang ? Will Damaged Dorsal Grow Back?

[redfishblewfish]

Yellow Tang – Will Damaged Dorsal Grow Back?


Picked up a Yellow Tang from a fellow reefer today and its dorsal fin was damaged from the Tang Wars. Will this dorsal fin grow back?….Otherwise, a health fish. Here’s a picture of my little Mohawk Tang:

 

[odinthejd]

What is Tang Wars?? Cool color though!

 

[MotionInSilver]

They grow back.... it'll be a while though as I had fish with near no fins grow it fully back. takes months in some cases

 

[tamableanimal]

It should grow back in time. Also from the picture he is showing signs of stress. So keep an eye on it and watch for signs of problems. Such as ich, fungus and bacterial infections and so on. The yellow tangs tend to be less susceptable to diseases than other tangs. Good luck I have always enjoyed watching yellow tangs.

 

[redfishblewfish]

odinthejd, I guess I was a bit facetious in my explanation on how the tang lost its fin. I actually have no idea how the fin was lost. Neither does the original owner. However, it’s obvious that someone chewed on it for a couple good bites.

Others, thanks for the info on the fin being able to grow back….I’ve got the time! As far as stress, this guy was just introduced into my tank a few hours ago. I would expect some stress. After acclimating, he immediately started to house clean by picking on rocks. Within an hour he had found the algae clip and was munching on some algae. I think he’ll do just fine. But again, thanks for the info. I’ll see if I can track the growth by taking monthly or every other month pictures.

 

[Catpicklesdog]

It'll grow back. My yellow tang was lying on the bottom of the tank being eaten by crabs about 4 yrs ago. She had no fins left and is now a picture of health. Didn't take that long either. I swear the salt water helps them heal quickly

Make sure she's got plenty of algae sheets to eat, she looks like she needs feeding up a bit.

 

[redfishblewfish]

Here’s an update on the Mohawk Tank. Here’s the original picture with the eaten dorsal fin:

And here is the same fish about a month an a half later. Definitely showing signs of the fin growing back. I’ll give it another two months. It feels good to rescue a fish.

 

[Cerianthus]

Seems to be on the way to recovery. Fish seems very skinny though. I could see rib cages/tucked in belly. What are you feeding and how often?

 

[Amphiprion]

Agreed. Make sure there is a high percentage of vegetable matter in its diet and that it gets a large amount of it daily.

 

[redfishblewfish]

Maybe it’s my cheap point-n-shoot camera that makes this guy look gaunt. In person, he (she) looks just fine. My feeding habits were alternating; algae clip one day, flake/pellet/cube the other day. I have since changed to hanging an algae clip every day and still feeding the other stuff every other day. Now hanging a clip every day, they just pick at the algae, and sometimes there is still algae the next day. And FYI, my algae eaters still join in eating the “meater” mixes as well. As far as the algae I use, I have used green and purple algae (purchased from my LFS), as well as two varieties of Sprung’s stuff. But I actually prefer Asian market nori….roasted. You get the same stuff as LFS algae at a fraction of the price. Since I still have LFS/Sprung algae, I rotate this stuff with the Asian Market stuff.